Hinges on gun safes an issue?

Equipment and accessories for shooting. Safes, firearm storage, bipods, carry cases, slings etc.

Hinges on gun safes an issue?

Post by Tiiger » 14 Aug 2013, 2:19 pm

I'm shopping for my first gun safe and this is one area I see a few brands differ on.

Some make a point of saying they have internal hinges with fancy this and special that etc. to protect from break in, whiles others have what look like regular old hinges that you could knock the pins out of (or whatever you do, I'm not a safe cracker :lol:) and make no mention of it, but otherwise look like serious gun safes from reputable brands?

What's the way to go?

Thanks.
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Re: Hinges on gun safes an issue?

Post by Broom » 15 Aug 2013, 10:08 am

On quality safes where the hinges are on the outside they're just there for the door.
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Re: Hinges on gun safes an issue?

Post by Granting » 15 Aug 2013, 10:12 am

Broom wrote:On quality safes where the hinges are on the outside they're just there for the door.


Uh, yeah?

What else would door hinges be for? :lol:
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Re: Hinges on gun safes an issue?

Post by VICHunter » 15 Aug 2013, 10:19 am

Granting wrote:Uh, yeah?

What else would door hinges be for? :lol:


I think you'll find he means to say that the hinges purpose is only to open the door, it doesn't play a part in the security of the safe so having them out the outside doesn't matter.

If the safe has locking rods all the way around the door on the inside, taking the hinges off help at all in opening the door.
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Re: Hinges on gun safes an issue?

Post by Broom » 15 Aug 2013, 10:28 am

VICHunter wrote:I think you'll find he means to say that the hinges purpose is only to open the door, it doesn't play a part in the security of the safe so having them out the outside doesn't matter.


Yeah, sorry. Poor explanation.

That is what I was attempting to say :)
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Re: Hinges on gun safes an issue?

Post by Tiiger » 15 Aug 2013, 10:51 am

TBH I'm probably looking at your normal 'gun safe' setups like a lokaway or hyskor safe or whichever. Not the bigger 'vault' type safes which I see the hinges handing off of.

I get the idea though. Only important on basic gun safes where the hinges do hold on one side of the door.
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Re: Hinges on gun safes an issue?

Post by Blackened » 15 Aug 2013, 4:55 pm

Tiiger wrote:I get the idea though. Only important on basic gun safes where the hinges do hold on one side of the door.


That's it.

You're average $300 lockbox like a hyskor etc. will have the hinges on the inside because they are part of security.

Take a look at any of the heavier gun safes (not strong boxes) with the locking rods in the door and you'll see that if the door only has bolts on the opening side, or maybe on the side and top, the hinges will be on the inside.

If the door has locking bolts on 3 sides or all the way round, hinges will often be on the outside because it's easier to do and doesn't mean anything if they're taken off by a would-be thief.
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Re: Hinges on gun safes an issue?

Post by Blackened » 15 Aug 2013, 4:58 pm

Blackened wrote:If the door has locking bolts on 3 sides or all the way round, hinges will often be on the outside because it's easier to do and doesn't mean anything if they're taken off by a would-be thief.


Forgot to say in last comment.... RE: the above, some manufacturers specifically put the hinges on the outside for this reason.

The theory being that an uninformed thief will waste time attempted to break the hinges, and if they successfully get them off/out they'll give up when they realise they just wasted half an hour or whatever on something that didn't matter.
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Re: Hinges on gun safes an issue?

Post by Monty » 16 Aug 2013, 11:25 am

Tiiger wrote:TBH I'm probably looking at your normal 'gun safe' setups like a lokaway or hyskor safe or whichever. Not the bigger 'vault' type safes which I see the hinges handing off of.

I get the idea though. Only important on basic gun safes where the hinges do hold on one side of the door.


Correct. Lokaway is a good example... If you've looked at their sales stuff they show how their doors go in behind the frame of the safe for the full height of the safe, their internal hinges etc. because this is all stronger than a typical locker style turn handle which just secures the door at one point.

Defeat that 1 point on a locker and the door swings open, whereas on a Lokaway you would have to pry open the door for the entire height of the safe to open it that way.

Moving up to a proper safe (not a locker/strong box) which has locking bolts all the way around, if they manage to get off both the hinges, they'd still have to pry the entire door out completely, around every side, in order to get it to open.
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Re: Hinges on gun safes an issue?

Post by Lorgar » 16 Aug 2013, 11:39 am

External hinges are good for a few things.

On heavier safes you can sometimes take the door off the hinges to reduce the weight so it's easier to move.

They also let you open the door 180° where internal hinges might only let you open the door 130°-140° or there abouts.
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Re: Hinges on gun safes an issue?

Post by Aster » 16 Aug 2013, 10:39 pm

Lorgar wrote:On heavier safes you can sometimes take the door off the hinges to reduce the weight so it's easier to move.

They also let you open the door 180° where internal hinges might only let you open the door 130°-140° or there abouts.


Both good points of the Browning safes. Not cheap, but quality gun safes.
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Re: Hinges on gun safes an issue?

Post by AlanK » 19 Aug 2013, 4:00 pm

Browning definitely make smart looking safes. When the gun collection outgrows the current safe I reckon I'll be taking a serious look at one.
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Re: Hinges on gun safes an issue?

Post by Ariat » 20 Aug 2013, 10:33 am

AlanK wrote:Browning definitely make smart looking safes. When the gun collection outgrows the current safe I reckon I'll be taking a serious look at one.


I've got my eye on the Spika SFG1 for a future gun safe. Dig that green...
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Re: Hinges on gun safes an issue?

Post by Chickenhawk » 20 Aug 2013, 10:38 am

Blackened wrote:Forgot to say in last comment.... RE: the above, some manufacturers specifically put the hinges on the outside for this reason.

The theory being that an uninformed thief will waste time attempted to break the hinges, and if they successfully get them off/out they'll give up when they realise they just wasted half an hour or whatever on something that didn't matter.


Effective too. You'd think all crims would have realise that by now, but you still see pictures of attempted gun safe break-ins where they've spent an hour breaking all the hinges off then given up when they realised it was a waste of time.
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